Water is the biggest crisis facing India in terms of spread and severity, affecting one in three people. Even in Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi water is being rationed and India's food security is under threat. With the lives and livelihoods of millions at risk, the nightmare has only just begun...

But insiders say that Ajay Jadeja's protracted court battles to clear his name are not so much to play for India again, but to join cricket's profitable ancillary industries like commentating or coaching.

Man is a diurnal animal but Mamata Banerjee is nocturnal. It is this uniqueness, rather than politics, that seems to hold the key to the drama culminating in her entry into the NDA Cabinet being kept in abeyance on May 24.

The May 24 Union Cabinet reshuffle was like a wedding where the bride failed to turn up. The motive behind the reshuffle was said to bring back Trinamool Congress's Mamata Banerjee into the Cabinet. But she stayed away.

When Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee initiated the thaw in relations with Pakistan recently, it sparked yet another round of cynical speculation on both sides, the move seen as a half-hearted bid doomed to failure.

Golfer Vijay Singh might just be a tad relieved. Annika Sorenstam may have shocked millions of enthusiasts with her decision to compete against the big boys on the US PGA tour, but she failed to awe them with a cut and a top-end finish last week.

Uninhibited spending, living on credit and changing products faster than ever, Indian middle-class has moved from functional living to a lifestyle of fulfilment. An exclusive survey brings out the defining changes in spending habits.

Water - which scientists tell us always finds its own level - also happens to be the great leveller. It is fundamental to the very survival of every human being, rich or poor, urban or rural. Life without water is impossible.